Switched-mode power converters, or sometimes known as switched-mode power supply units, are power supply units which are generally used on sophisticated electronic equipment which requires a controlled, constant and regulated power supply. To produce such a controlled and regulated power supply, these switched-mode power supply units include a switching circuit to process an incoming electrical current so as to recreate a controlled and regulated electric current independent of the electricity supplied from a primary power source.
In some examples, the switching circuit may be arranged to process the incoming electrical current by switching it on and off, or in opposite directions, at a very high frequency so as to create a very fine and constant waveform of electrical current. As this waveform of electrical current is artificially recreated by the switching module, the quality and attributes of the electrical waveform can be controlled and regulated as desired by a user. In many instances, this waveform of electrical current may also then be filtered by an output filter so that excessive noise or undesirable interferences from the switching circuit may be removed before the electrical current is supplied to an electronic or electrical device.
In these examples, the switching circuit may be controlled by a controller which is programmed to perform the switching of the incoming electrical current so as to create the desired regulated power for the user. However, control methods which are programmed within the controller system may not be able to respond to changing loads being placed on the switched-mode power supply and thus, reduce the performance of the switched-mode power supply. In some advanced designs where the switching circuit is able to receive feedback so as to cater for changing loads, the changes to the characteristics of the components within the power supply due to different reasons like aging or parametric drift may nonetheless reduce the efficiency and performance of the switched-mode power supply.